


Motorcycle

by thirdchildfromthesun



Category: DRAMAtical Murder (Visual Novel), DRAMAtical Murder - All Media Types
Genre: Domestic Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-07
Updated: 2015-05-07
Packaged: 2018-03-29 12:23:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3896173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thirdchildfromthesun/pseuds/thirdchildfromthesun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mink buys an old motorcycle in a spur of the moment decision which he and Aoba spend the summer fixing up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Motorcycle

It had been a spur of the moment purchase and he still wasn’t entirely certain as to why he had felt compelled to buy such a thing.

Mink wasn’t a frivolous spender. He didn’t see the point in having anything beyond what was necessary. Even though they made enough money for them to get by with a little extra left after bills and food and other necessities, neither he nor Aoba saw much need in wasting that hard earned money on pointless objects. They had both agreed early on that the money that wasn’t spent towards what they needed would be saved up for emergencies and for when the two of them were simply too old to work. It wouldn’t be spent on things that they didn’t need.

The motorcycle was not something that either of them needed. Both of them worked in town and it was only a twenty minute walk from their cabin. It was a walk that neither minded taking – Aoba liked the exercise and enjoyed being outside for a while before he had to work, and it didn’t bother Mink as it was just something that had to be done. Neither one of them traveled much as there weren’t really many places to go – the few places that the two of them enjoyed or felt the need to visit were easily accessible by walking so there hadn’t been any need to buy the motorcycle.

And yet, Mink had anyway. He had spotted the small, rusty looking thing sitting in the yard of one of the residents in town with a bright red ‘For Sale’ sign hanging off its dirty handlebars. It wasn’t as big as his previous bike and obviously not nearly as intimidating or powerful but it had looked as though it had been a nice bike back when it was in top shape. He didn’t even know why the old thing had even caught his eye in the first place. It had appeared as nothing more than a scrap heap when he had first glanced at it but for some reason, his eyes kept wandering back. Over the next few weeks, as he passed by it on his way to work, his attention always drifted to it as he moved past. The first real thing he had noticed about it was that it was just big enough to fit him and Aoba comfortably on the back. The next thing was that despite its ugly appearance, it actually looked like it would function. It needed some work but it looked as though, with a bit of elbow grease, he could probably get it up and running smoothly.

The next time he walked past it on his way home from work, he noticed the original price stated for it had dropped significantly and before he knew what he was doing, his feet had carried him across the street, up onto the owner’s front porch and his hand was knocking on the door.

Ten minutes later, the motorcycle was in his possession. The damn thing had looked even worse up close and for several moments, he regretted his decision and sudden loss of control. He had debated with himself whether he should try to get his money back or just live with the consequences of his actions when Aoba had shown up.

Understandably, he had been somewhat confused as to why Mink had bought such a thing but instead of getting angry, he had laughed and shrugged before playfully commenting, “I guess it was just something you really wanted without knowing how much you did.”

Mink had looked at him for a moment before glancing down at the junk sitting in front of him. He wasn’t exactly sure if this was something he wanted at all but he would take responsibility for his actions and would see what he could do with the rusty thing.

They had borrowed a truck from one of Aoba’s coworkers and gotten it up to the cabin where Mink stored it in the little shack they used to house firewood during the winter. As Aoba was returning the truck, Mink set about trying to figure out exactly what was needed to make the thing functional and to his surprise, he found his earlier guess had been right. Even though the thing was ugly and somewhat rusty, most of the important parts still appeared to be functioning. There were a few things he had to replace but they were parts bought easily and cheaply from a local auto shop. Someone had taken good care of the bike before it had ended up rusting in the front yard, waiting for anyone to purchase it. Mink had smiled a little to himself and gained a little confidence in his purchase.

It only took a while to get the thing up and running like new. Mink worked on it when he got home and on his days off. Aoba usually sat beside him as he worked, handing him tools and doing whatever else he could to help out. The younger man didn’t have any knowledge of how cars or motorcycles worked but he was surprisingly good at getting it clean – the dirt and grime, even in the toughest areas, seemed to come away like dust when he went at it.

And over those days, both of them became surprisingly invested in the bike. Mink enjoyed working on it; enjoyed watching the rusty bucket of tin turn into a functioning, smoothly running motorcycle – he enjoyed watching something that he had so little faith in turn full circle in his hands. And he had the feeling that Aoba wasn’t necessarily that interested in the bike but was happier with the fact that Mink was obviously enjoying the work.

It was evening four and a half weeks after he had bought it when Mink finally declared the bike operational and thus, ready to be ridden. He had walked it out into the yard with Aoba following a couple paces behind him, settled himself on the seat and had gunned the engine. A wholly pleasant roaring filled the still, warm night air. The bike rumbled beneath him, ready to rush forward the moment he took the brake off and hit the gas but the night was soon still again as Mink turned off the engine shortly after.

Aoba had given him a confused look, “Don’t you want to take it for a test ride?”

Mink shook his head, “No. We worked on it together so we ride it for the first time together.”

Aoba had blushed a little bit before smiling, “Well, do you want to go now?”

Mink once again shook his head, “We don’t have helmets, there isn’t enough gas in the tank and it’s too dark to be driving around with this dingy headlight. We’ll go into town tomorrow to get a new bulb and some helmets then we’ll see how it does when it actually has to move.”

Aoba had smiled a bit wider and teased, “I thought you said it was fully operational.”

Turning away, Mink had slid off the bike before replying, “Headlights don’t keep it from not working.”

Laughing softly, Aoba had turned to go back inside as Mink started to roll the bike back to the shed. When he had it safely inside, he took a brief moment to look down at it and felt a small smile tugging at his lips; a very small, prideful smile at the good bike that had appeared out from underneath the rust. 

The next day, they bought some helmets (a simple black one for Mink and a smaller blue one for Aoba), stopped by the auto shop to pick up a new headlight, filled up a can with gas and immediately proceeded back home where Mink very quickly replaced the bulb, topped off the gas can and with both of their helmets firmly secured and a goodbye shouted from Aoba over the roar of the engine to Ren and Tori, the two of them started their first ride on the bike.

Even though it had been a while since Mink had driven one, he found the control and confidence came rushing back the moment he picked up some speed. It wasn’t the same as his previous bike which had enough power to jostle your very bones but that didn’t bother him much. The ride was much smoother and the noise much more pleasant.

Their first trip had just been into town. Several of Aoba and Mink’s coworkers had been interested in their project and had asked to see their hard work done. While Mink sat quietly on the bike, Aoba proudly showed it off – pointing out everything Mink had done and proclaiming happily how good Mink was with fixing it and how little effort it took to get it running; beaming all the while as he described what had to be done, what parts had to be replaced and topping all the explanations off with a playful joke about how if he hadn’t been around to help out, the bike would have looked like a dirt stain that had mutated into the form of a motorcycle.

Their second trip a few days later had been on an older mountain road that an man in town had told them about. Mink had gone an hour beforehand to ensure that the road was safe to ride on and had found it ended near a beautiful pasture that he had never seen before. When he had returned home and informed Aoba as to what he found, the younger man had almost immediately suggested they have a picnic. Smiling, he had said, “We can take Ren and Tori with us, I’ll make us some food and we can have a little picnic together.”

Another hour was spent rounding up the necessary supplies, making some sandwiches and then trying to figure out how to get everything onto the back of the motorcycle. Eventually, they had settled on wrapping the bagged sandwiches and a few other supplies in a blanket which Aoba held in his lap along with Ren and Tori on the back of the bike. Once Mink had slipped on in front of them and they were all firmly squished together, they had set off (at a much slower pace than usual) to the pasture.

The rest of the day was spent sprawled lazily out on a blanket underneath a healthy oak tree, quietly watching the sky through the leafy branches. After the food was finished and a little over an hour spent quietly talking about various subjects, Aoba – full, pleasantly warm and laid out comfortably on the blanket – fell asleep. Ren and Tori followed shortly after, both going into sleep mode on top of Aoba’s gently rising and falling stomach. Mink watched the clouds and the sky through the branches, his thigh pressed with precision against Aoba’s side and quietly listened to the chirping of crickets, the gentle rustling of the breeze and the man beside him breathing before he too fell asleep.

That pasture became their little place from then on. It wasn’t owned by anyone in particular so they were free to come and go as they pleased. Every weekend they could manage, they would pack up a lunch and hop on the motorcycle to enjoy a lazy but fun and peaceful day spent under that tree. And the summer passed quickly by like that, peaceful days spent at work and peaceful weekends spent happily in each other’s company underneath that massive oak.

Today was the last day of summer and fall was already fast approaching. Mink stood in the kitchen of their cabin, finishing up the last of the sandwiches and carefully adding them to the small paper sack sat beside him on the counter. Aoba was outside with Ren, topping up the fuel tank and Mink could hear him chatting away happily with his little allmate.

Fall wasn't going to keep them away from the pasture but the mountains always became viciously cold during that time of year and snow was something they would have to take account of very quickly. This day might be their last for a while and both of them were a bit disappointed by that. Aoba had suggested several days ago that they spend an entire day out in the pasture to savor the last moments of summer which Mink had readily agreed to. The two of them had started preparing at dawn this morning, gathering up multiple supplies and making enough food to last them from sun up to sun down. Aoba had been in a buzz of excitement, all smiles and radiance as he moved around the house, chatting with Ren and Tori and gathering up everything they needed. Mink had spent most of the morning in the kitchen as he had figured just sandwiches for the whole day wouldn't be in any way a proper meal and had easily cooked them a satisfying breakfast of pancakes and bacon, a rather large lunch of various different kinds of sandwiches along with sweet potato chips and other snack type items, and a fair dinner of steak skewers with some roasted vegetables.

The food was done and with the last sandwich packed away snugly, Mink gathered loaded up everything into the large picnic basket that had been given to them by a local townswoman (idly wondering if they were going to have enough room on the bike to fit all of this and them on it) and before he finished putting in the last item, he remembered that he needed to ask Aoba if he wanted to bring anything sweet along. Setting down the bag he had been holding, he walked to the screen door, opened his mouth to call out to Aoba and stopped in his place as he lifted his head to gaze outside.

In the soft morning light from the steadily rising sun, Aoba stood next to the motorcycle with his little blue helmet held in his slender hands. He was leaning against it slightly, head turned down towards his helmet as he fiddled with a strap. His blue hair, pulled up in a messy ponytail, caught rays of the sunlight and his tanned skin was a beautiful contrast to the glow it gave off. 

A beautiful expression of peacefulness and happiness was on his face. That small smile of his, reserved for special moments when he was honestly and truthfully expressing a deep, profound happiness was curved onto his lips and his down turned eyes looked soft even from a distance. A slender thumb was running back and forth over the strap and Mink would have given anything just to know what he was thinking.

Quietly, Mink stared at the scene in front of him for a moment longer – debating on whether or not he should call out to Aoba when he spotted something silver to his left. Turning, he discovered that it was Aoba’s camera. It was a small, cheap thing that he had purchased back with the intention of taking as many pictures of Mink as possible. He didn’t know what drove the younger man to take so many pictures of him and his explanation of ‘I take them to remember’ baffled him as well. It wasn’t that he minded as Aoba never pushed him to pose or look into the camera or smile, it was just another strange habit from a strange man.

But…in this moment, he could somewhat understand what Aoba meant by remembering. As he glanced back at the scene before him and felt a warmth building up in his chest at that look of such profound happiness and peace on Aoba’s face, he found his hand slowly reaching for the camera. He didn’t really know how to work it but he had seen Aoba use it enough times that it wasn’t difficult to figure out as he switched it on, held it out in front of him and positioned it so Aoba was center focus in the viewfinder. The focus straightened out and with a press of a button and a satisfying click, the picture was taken. After checking to make sure that the picture had come out right, Mink shut the camera off and slipped it into his pocket.

For some reason, as the camera bumped against the bottom of his pocket, Mink felt a surge of happiness. Remembering a moment like this forever because a single button press, he could see why Aoba would like something like that so much.

“Mink?”

Startled slightly, Mink looked up to find Aoba walking towards the house with a confused look on his face.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah.” He responded, “I was just distracted for a moment. I’ll be right out.” With that, he turned back to the kitchen. Grabbing a few sweet snacks from the pantry, he tossed them inside the basket with everything else before closing up the lid and heading outside with it held securely in his arms. Aoba was back beside the motorcycle. As Mink walked over, he looked up and smiled.

“That everything?”

“Yeah.” He set it on the back, fumbled for a moment with the cords that would hold it down before finally getting it securely in place. Once finished, he turned to Aoba and gazed at him for a moment. Sometimes, he wondered how they ended up at such a point – how Aoba ever managed to forgive him, how he had managed to push his way so deep into his heart that a single thought of losing him terrified Mink, how he had become the one thing he lived for and the one thing he would die for, and how he became the only person he could see spending every single moment with until his last breath was taken on this earth and how every moment would be one that he would treasure in this life into the next.

He wondered sometimes and most times, he didn’t try to figure out the answer. Even if he had a hundred years, he knew he most likely would never understand how they ended up in such a place. And it wasn’t as though understanding was that important to him – Aoba was here and Aoba would always be here, right next to him in life and in death.

And that was all Mink needed. He didn’t need to understand why it was that way.

Aoba, who had been distracted by his helmet again, glanced up when he caught Mink looking. Smiling, he brushed a strand of hair out of his face and asked, “What? Have I got dirt on my face again?”

Mink felt a light smile tugging at his lips. He reached down, took the helmet from Aoba’s hands and placed it on his head. Once it was securely in place and the buckle strapped underneath his chin, Mink leaned down and pressed his lips firmly but gently against Aoba’s. The smaller man started for a moment then pushed back, slender arms coming up to wrap around Mink’s neck. Mink placed his hands on the back of his neck and pulled closer, pressing down on those soft lips and breathing in the clean scent of Aoba’s shampoo and soap.

He didn’t need to understand. He wanted Aoba to be happy and he wanted Aoba to be with him. As long as the two things were always true then he didn’t need to understand why.

Pulling back slightly, Mink ran his thumb over Aoba’s cheek and gave him a small smile.

“What was that for?” Aoba asked, a bit red in the face and a little confused but smiling back nonetheless.

Mink just smiled, pecked him on the lips and turned back to the bike.

He gazed down at it for a moment then muttered quietly, “Just something I wanted without knowing how much I did….”

“Hm?” Aoba slid onto the backseat, holding Ren and Tori securely in his lap, “What did you say?”

Mink shook his head, “Nothing, let’s get going.”

He pushed the helmet onto his head, climbed on in front of Aoba and gunned the engine to life. Aoba’s arms wrapped around his waist and he could feel the bumpiness of the two allmates pushed up against his back. With the brake off and a little pressure on the gas, they were off to spend the last day of summer together underneath that massive oak.


End file.
